Alan Dershowitz weighed in on the David Gregory vs Glenn Greenwald dispute. “Greenwald’s a total phony. He is anti-American, he loves tyrannical regimes, and he did this because he hates America. This had nothing to do with publicizing information.”

Gregory, you will recall, suggested that Greenwald may have “abetted” Snowden’s actions: ”to the extent that you have aided and abetted Snowden, even in his current movements, why shouldn’t you, Mister Greenwald, be charged with a crime?” to which Greenwald replied, “I think it’s pretty extraordinary that anybody who would call themselves a journalist would publicly muse about whether or not other journalists should be charged with felonies.” The implication was that Greenwald could do what he did because he was a journalist. Gregory, it will be further recalled, illustrated an anti-gun law by violating it on the air.

You see Gregory is also a journalist. So he gets a get out of jail card just the same as Greenwald. That’s cool! But what is a journalist? Gloria Allred, who was also on the show with Dershowitz, offered these thoughts.

“I wouldn’t necessarily call Mr. Greenwald a journalist – I would think of a journalist as someone who is neutral. I see Mr. Greenwald as more of an advocate, defending his source, almost acting as a lawyer.”

Who you are seems to matter more and more than what you do.

Authority is a great thing to have because it means special rules apply to you. It is so handy that the number of people exercising authority understandably tends to grow. Recently, the Airline Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) questioned the power of the Customs and Border Protection to search aircraft well within the borders of the US, “noting that CBP’s authority to conduct searches of aircraft that have crossed an international border is well understood, questioned the agency’s authority to operate in places like Iowa City.”

“In all of our research to date, we cannot identify what authority is granted Customs and Border Protection to monitor general aviation activity within the borders of the United States and we question the authority under which CBP is conducting this monitoring, stop and search activity,” Mead wrote …

pilots have been stopped and detained more than once by CBP agents operating well inland of the borders, targeting for invasive searches aircraft that never came close to crossing a border. AOPA is aware of some searches that could have compromised airworthiness, with uncertified personnel removing inspection plates, for example.

The proliferation of police powers in turn creates the need to equalize, akin to credential inflation. Once upon a time you could be President of the United States with a high school diploma. Today one needs a college degree at least. Probably the same thing applies to bureaucracies. Once upon a time you just needed to be bureaucrat. Today the thing to be is a bureaucrat with a badge. Bruce Schneier calls this phenomenon “privilege escalation”. He cites the example of transit cops whose main ambition was to drop the “transit” part of their job description.

In the computer security world, privilege escalation means using some legitimately granted authority to secure extra authority that was not intended. This is a real-world counterpart. Even though transit police departments are meant to police their vehicles only, the title — and the ostensible authority that comes along with it — is useful elsewhere.

He also cites the case of an auto repair shop that created its own police force to keep up with Jonses, using the transit cop route.

Yosef Maiwandi formed the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority — a tiny, privately run nonprofit organization that provides bus rides to disabled people and senior citizens. It operates out of an auto repair shop. Then, because the law seems to allow transit companies to form their own police departments, he formed the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority Police Department. As a thank you, he made Stefan Eriksson a deputy police commissioner of the San Gabriel Transit Authority Police’s anti-terrorism division, and gave him business cards.

I may only look like a van driver …

An LA Times article says there are reports of criminals starting their own police departments.

Most local police agencies are certified by California’s Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training. But Alan Deal, a spokesman for the agency, said the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority Police Department has not been certified.

Without meeting state standards, a police officer has few powers beyond that of a security guard, who can carry weapons and make citizen’s arrests.

Deal said that his agency has discovered that several railroad agencies around California have created police departments — even though the companies have no rail lines in California to patrol. The police certification agency is seeking to decertify those agencies because it sees no reason for them to exist in California.

The issue of private transit firms creating police agencies has in recent years been a concern in Illinois, where several individuals with criminal histories created railroads as a means of forming a police agency.

The problem with being the just border police is it’s too confining. It’s only natural to aim for more. Left unchecked privilege escalation can be used to grab resources that were formerly in the commons. The David Gregory/Glenn Greenwald example is illustrates the point. It used to be that First Amendment covered everybody. But now that anyone can post on the Internet, and further given that some of these have wider audiences than journalists, they need a little privilege escalation to even things up. One way is to argue that journalists are exempted to degree greater than citizens from the effects of the law. In effect, they’ve granted themselves comparatively more privileges than the regular civilian. Unchallenged that will become more or less conventional wisdom.

Pretty soon being just an ordinary citizen won’t be worth a plugged nickel, what with Immigration Amnesty and all. There’s a business opportunity in creating categories of citizenship, like the credit card companies do. Silver, Gold, Platinum. Maybe one day you’ll need a badge to cross the street and we can all be cops.

Someone said that "you don't get a warrant when you're at war". Fair enough. But is it impertinent to ask, "what war are we talking about?" Is it the War on Terror that President Obama wants to declare over? Or maybe the War that George Bush invented? Or was the Libyan war that wasn't a war? Or perhaps it's the Syrian war that isn't even a war yet. Or is the War of Necessity in Afghanistan? You know the one that is going to be concluded by giving Afghanistan back to the Taliban?

What war are we talking about? This is getting to be a real goat rope. Wasn't it all about "law enforcement"? If it's about law enforcement then how come you don't need a warrant because we're in a war? Ok, so we're in a war. Then how about debating in Congress. Nope can't do that.

Fine. Then didn't Greenwald vote for Obama? Heck didn't didn't Gregory? Didn't Dershowitz? Wasn't Snowden a big fan of the President's? Didn't Snowden support BHO because he was going to end the evil practices of GWB?

“I wouldn’t necessarily call Mr. Greenwald a journalist – I would think of a journalist as someone who is neutral."

Gloria Allred has just argued for the abolishing of the entire MSM...the non-neutrality of the MSM being a provable assertion.

On a related matter; if a whistleblower uses a blogger, such as our esteemed host, to 'out' official malfeasance (to simplify, no nat. sec. involved) does the blogger enjoy journalistic immunity?

After doing a quick search, opinion seems to be divided, with those on the left insisting of course that journalistic 'credentials and certification' are needed to claim immunity. Clearly, keeping the journalist guild's power sacrosanct is a concern.

He can alternate between "Burger King, TGI Friday’s and panoply of coffee shops". This seems to be my day for the bizarre, as Michael Totten writes about his visit to Hezbollah's "Disneyland" -- a theme park where you can buy caps with Nasrallah's picture on it and walk through entertaining barbed wire and pillbox exhibits.

But blert made my day by pointing out the link (to remote controlled car accidents). Hey, we're in the 21st century.

"...Former U.S. National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke told The Huffington Post on Monday that the fatal crash of journalist Michael Hastings’ Mercedes C250 coupe last week is “consistent with a car cyber attack.”

“There is reason to believe that intelligence agencies for major powers” — including the United States — know how to remotely seize control of a car,” Clarke said.

Here's the head of DARPA Dr. Kathleen Fisher, a program manager for DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies. Fisher admitted that the Pentagon has researched remotely controlling cars through hacking on board computers.

And one more for shizz and gigglez, In 2011, Car and Driver magazine published an article substantiating the Pentagon research. “Currently, there’s nothing to stop anyone with malicious intent and some ­computer-programming skills from taking command of your vehicle. After gaining access, a hacker could control everything from which song plays on the radio to whether the brakes work,” writes Keith Barry, citing research conducted by the Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security, a partnership between the University of California San Diego and the University of Washington."

^^^^ All of the above inre the astounding high speed wreck of Hastings.

BTW, since 9-11 the government has phased in new class 8 trucks that ARE remotely overridden -- if necessary. This is to prevent crazed fanatics from driving into the California State Capitol Building... and the like.

What started as a system for big rigs has almost certainly been extended to high performance cars -- the kind that can be used to ram toll booths sited in and around major urban areas. Booths that have ALREADY been car-rammed by fanatics/ dopers.

I would be shocked if Daimler-Benz DIDN'T have electronic speed control overrides built into its machines.

Forever and ever, LEO have complained about trying to stop very high speed flight by automobiles. This is the wave of the future -- and is the kind of thing that is being engineered -- under the radar -- pretty much everywhere.

It takes uppers/ cocaine/ meth to get drivers up to speed. It is notable that eye witnesses don't report Hastings as swerving. That's amazing. At speed, a drunk will be all over the road, normally flipping his machine without even hitting anything.

All of this type of activity follows from 'selective adherence to law.' When men get to decide which laws to enforce, or not enforce, it becomes necessary to get 'your own men' who decide these things in your favor. Why do we even have a CBP since they only selectively enforce laws? Why do we have an ICE when the Federal government has in effect abdicated their sovereignty? Any form of amnesty for illegal aliens is simply an admission that we are either too feckless, too cowardly or simply not interested in enforcing our own laws. Think of that for a moment, the LAWMAKERS in our government are unwilling to enforce THEIR OWN LAWS! So why do we even need a federal government? Oh yeah, to redistribute wealth. That is all they do with any real competence anymore. ( No don't include the military. The military works within its own guidelines, UCMJ and traditions. In fact they would be even better without federal interference)

First, AOPA is the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. I am a member.

And recently I read of a case where a man cranked up his airplane and flew from Calfornia to a small town Oklahoma, whereupon he was set upon by all manner of Homeland Security and Border Patrol agents, including a surveillance jet that circled overhead for the entire encounter.

Ask what this was about they would not say, but explained that his flight had been flagged as having a certain identifier: "a flight going from West to East." I understand these same people are still looking for Amelia Earhart for that same reason.

In another case a man was out flying his glider in SC and someone decided he was too close to a nuclear power plant. You are not supposed to circle near such power plants but gliders circle to gain altitude. The power plant lacked a suitable radio to contact him, even if he had known they wnated to have a chat.

Upon landing he was set upon by the forces of the local sheriff, who complained that he had not landed in reponse to a radio message he had never received - nor had been required to. There is a happy ending to this one - it appears that the sherriff deputies will not be put in jail.

Even worse, these people often proceed to conduct an FAA-style ramp check of aircraft and pilot documents - only they are not FAA and are not only powerless in that area but entirely clueless as well.

From the Santa Barbara Architectural Review Board to your friendly neighborhood cop, the forces of tyranny are loose in the land - and even worse, they are not only loose but friggin' incompetent as well.

OT, but, having flown sail planes (in SC, no less) I can add that a power plant can be a good place to gain altitude; if you can find the heat plume from the cooling towers you can get a nice ride, especially in winter.

True, that occurred to me as well. But he was not doing that. And there is no notation on the sectional chart nor a NOTAM telling you to avoid the power plant.

There is a general rule that pilots should not linger in the vicinity of such power plants - as well as other facilities, such as stadiums with games underway. But as to how that is "enforced" - I guess you can get his N-number and complain to the FAA.

I think 0bama and his wrecking crew have "elevated" their privileges close or above the point of impeachment.

Most of the comments have express my opinion so I'll make mine short. If I were Snowden I would be very concerned about 30 "journalists" on the same airplane. Any one of the 30 could have been an agent for the CIA or a hit man. Discrete travel would be Snowden's top concern.

Watch for leftists taking the position that Dershowitz has in order to try and rehabilitate the regime's image. I've already seen that this will be the meme going forward at another source.

At Fred Pruitt's Rantburg site, a longtime lurker/troll who claims to be a liberal hawk initiated one of the longest comment threads there in years yesterday by cliaming that anyone who didn't see Snowden and other whistle blowers of his type as traitors were hysterical partisans no different than the antiwar left during the Bush years.

Of course, this person claims to have supported the WoT during the Bush years even though he disagreed with him on every other issue. Of course he does.

Then, according to this guy, Obama has shown iron in killing off bad guys with drones, has taken the war to the enemy, and the information provided by the NSA and others with their behavior is key to that happening.

Therefore, anyone who even remotely criticizes the NSA's behavior and extra-Constitutional abuses for any reason is no different from those who domestically tried to hamper W in the post 9/11 era.

When confronted by the regulars on the forum regarding the general trend of government, using the IRS persecution of advocates of small government and devout Christians as an example, to abuse the rights of Americans and to target domestic political enemies instead of foreign and domestic terrorist/military ones, this lurker claimed (get ready for this) that it was in fact a bureaucrat who was originally a Republican appointee who is in charge at the IRS office in Ohio so that example was not a valid one, and that if anything the IRS scandal was a non-directed, nonpartisan thing. He of course had no response when other commenters reminded him of the actions and testimony of proven anti-Christian bigot Lois Lerner and others of her ilk. His take was "nothing to see there, move along".

As far as he was concerned, anyone who is targeted and harrassed by the government with police power and taxation bureaucracy for being a devout Christian or a believer in limited government should just suck it up and deal with it so that Obama can go on killing terrorists with drones. If they don't they are traitors.

I do believe that this troll and Dershowitz have thus shown us how the left will try to play all of these scandals and spin them into an advantage for their side.

What I want to know is whether Greenwald was part of this select group of journalists. Was Gregory?

Just suppose I wanted to join that group (not that they'd have me, since I don't count, but just suppose), where do I apply? Who is the grand poo-bah around those parts?

This is why the Left, given enough time, winds up purging everybody else. It's the national sport of Marxism. They overthrow the capitalist scum so they can focus on the really important stuff, like denouncing each other. You would think they would get a life. But this is their life.

Someone said that "you don't get a warrant when you're at war". Fair enough. But is it impertinent to ask, "what war are we talking about?" Is it the War on Terror that President Obama wants to declare over? Or maybe the War that George Bush invented? Or was the Libyan war that wasn't a war? Or perhaps it's the Syrian war that isn't even a war yet. Or is the War of Necessity in Afghanistan? You know the one that is going to be concluded by giving Afghanistan back to the Taliban?

What war are we talking about? This is getting to be a real goat rope. Wasn't it all about "law enforcement"? If it's about law enforcement then how come you don't need a warrant because we're in a war? Ok, so we're in a war. Then how about debating in Congress. Nope can't do that.

Fine. Then didn't Greenwald vote for Obama? Heck didn't didn't Gregory? Didn't Dershowitz? Wasn't Snowden a big fan of the President's? Didn't Snowden support BHO because he was going to end the evil practices of GWB?

Bush used the spy apparatus of this country to primarily prosecute a war against foreigners who were attacking us. This is OK.

Obama uses the spy apparatus of this country primarily to persecute his domestic political opponents and disenfranchise them. This is NOT OK.

Bush acted out of patriotism.

Obama is acting out of his duty as the paid hitman of those who receive government largesse for their income stream, be it public employment/grants/subsidies or direct welfare.

The difference between the two couldn't be more stark or clear.

For the left, it has become increasingly clear that a "traitor" is anyone whose writings, speech, or actions result in an advantage for advocates of limited government. No matter how awful the crime, you don't expose it for fear that those damn Tea Party types might get in and end the gravy train, and the steady progression towards an amoral society.

CBP can do warrantless searches, at the border. If anything within 100 miles of an airport is declared the border then the government can effectively search without a warrant anywhere. So can the Coast Guard, that is why Coastie detachments ride Navy ship to do drug interdiction. Coastsies can search and arrest while the Navy can't.

Gregory vs. Greenwald proves that sometimes everyone is a bad guy. Like the factions in Syria just because two sides are fighting that does not mean that either is on your side.